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Bobby Jindal touts Rick Perry, wins fans

Bobby Jindal is among the most recognizable GOP officeholders aligned with Rick Perry. | AP Photo

Perry supporters are counting on Jindal’s effusive praise for Perry to nudge undecideds in their direction.

“He can speak from a standpoint of seeing Perry in action day after day. He can speak to that executive leadership element and he’s very accomplished in his own right. So he’s got [a] great level of credibility to talk about other executives in the country,” said Perry’s Iowa co-chair Bob Haus.

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One story Jindal relayed was Perry’s response during Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, when the Louisiana governor was having trouble getting enough ambulances and planes to evacuate patients out of hospitals and nursing homes.

“The first planes that arrived came from the state of Texas, Texas Air National Guard. Now Rick didn’t once ask me, ‘Did you fill out all the right paperwork?’ He didn’t ask me, ‘Did you get permission from FEMA?’” Jindal said. “When he heard there were people’s lives at stake, he did what had to be done. He made an executive decision. He is a governor who has led.”

Jindal came to Perry’s rescue in another way — earlier Tuesday, during a back-and-forth between the Texas governor and a woman over the details of Perry’s optional 20 percent flat-tax plan.

After Perry told the questioner her standard deduction would be eliminated under his flat tax, Jindal, seated in a chair behind the governor, said softly, “Rick, you actually keep a standard deduction in your flat tax.”

“Oh that’s right, matter of fact we raised it to $12,500 per family, I think. Thank you for correcting me on that governor, not that I ever make a mistake,” he said, drawing laughs. “It’s always good to have Bobby here to correct me.”

After Jindal delivered an introduction that outlined the five reasons he’s backing Perry, the governor joked that he should scrap his own planned remarks and move right to questions.

“That was awesome Bobby, thank you,” he said.

Haus said Jindal, who is spending two days with Perry campaigning in sub-freezing weather, and the Texas governor bounce ideas off each other in between stops on the tour. “They kick around ideas, talk national and international politics. You’ve got a peer you can kick back with, talk through some issues,” he said.

Readers' Comments (25)

"We’ve found ourselves wondering about Perry, who’s kicking off a 42-city Iowa bus tour today. Notably, two recent Iowa polls have shown a slight uptick in Perry’s support. In particular, an American Research Group (ARG) poll released yesterday (Tuesday) showed him gaining 8 points (though he’s still in fourth place)...

Perry’s 'Strong' ad - where he criticizes the fact that gay soldiers can serve openly in the military while children can’t celebrate Christmas in school - may be generating some traction in the state.

In particular, Decoder is now wondering if the ad’s appeal was actually two-fold - going beyond Christian conservatives to another potentially powerful voting bloc: veterans...."

"Which candidate, then, can fill what looks to be an opening to the right of Gingrich and Romney? At the moment, that candidate may be Rick Perry. In the Insider Advantage and ARG polls, Perry has more than doubled his support in the last couple of weeks...

Perry in person can attest, he is a master of retail politicking, turning on the down-home charm and connecting with social conservatives. It’s a strength that has served Perry well in Texas, perhaps the main reason why he’s never lost an election in his career...."

Is Will Ferrell upset that he didn't get to make Ricky/Bobby II? The original had fans filling theaters and assuring income for premium cable. Part Deux will probably be another situation entirely. Just who is supposed to be riding on whose coattails?

An endorsement from Bobby Jindal might win Perry a few votes in odd places. But it would take the hand of God to bring Perry back into the running ! And I believe God is just a bit too busy right now ! ... Amen !

Bobby "Deer caught in the headlights" Jindal and Rick "I can't count to three" Perry? What a duo! The only thing I can figure out is that Jindal must have hitched his wagon to Perry's before he figured out Perry was an idiot. The rest of the country figured it out pretty quickly.

Perry in person can attest, he is a master of retail politicking, turning on the down-home charm and connecting with social conservatives. It’s a strength that has served Perry well in Texas, perhaps the main reason why he’s never lost an election in his career...."

Well, I think you better get ready, because Slick Rick is about to lose this one! I guess "stupid" just doesn't play that well outside of Texas.

Based on his academic record and other achievements, Jindal has an IQ at least double the IQ of any national politician. Compared to Obama (whose college grades are hidden) Jindal's IQ is perhaps 10 times greater.

Hmmm. Judging by these comments, some of you are brainwashed enough not to question the bias in liberal media. Who says Perry is an idiot? The liberal media. Who downplays Jindal? The liberal media. Why? They're scared of people who can articulate conservatism! It never ceases to amaze me how some Democrats will just shout the same talking points over and over without looking at facts, and especially without looking at both sides of an argument. There is plenty of flip-flopping and corruption with Democrats too. Partisanship causes blindness on both sides. You've got to read both sides anymore to get a good idea of what's really going on, because both sides leave stuff out. The liberal media does count on its followers being mind-numbed enough to not think for themselves, however.... It is your duty to be a well-informed voter, not a brainwashed and partisan voter. I'll go even further: to really understand the conservative movement, you've got to listen to (or read) Rush Limbaugh for at least a couple weeks. The 'conservative' media isn't always.

Whoever wins the nomination has my vote, because any one of them would be a better leader than Obama. We literally can't afford more of Obama. Whoever the GOP nominee is gets my vote. The leftist media doesn't admit this, but the national debt has accelerated at an unprecendented rate under Obama, and it wasn't pretty to start with. This doesn't even count the fact that things like Obamacare won't add into the total debt until all parts of the law go into effect, and you can count on the fact that it will be much more expensive than projected, just like any other government program. To top off the horrible debt, all branches of the federal government get an automatic 10% increase in budget each year, based upon spending of the previous year. This is since the 70's. It doesn't take a mathematician to realize this is unsustainable growth and will quickly turn us into the EU. And don't count on Congress ever balancing the budget with so many politicians - on both sides- guilty of crony-capitalism with large campaign contributions from tax-exempt corporations.

Contrary to the understanding of those 'standing with the 99%,' Washington has no intention of fixing any problems within Wall Street - they've been in bed with them (on both sides) for generations, and have rigged things in the personal favor of their insider trading and political donors in the forms of tax exemption and government money. According to the recent book, "Throw them all out," a strong majority of the corruption is on the Democrat side. We absolutely need to look for politicians - on both sides- who recognize the culture of corruption in Washington bringing us headlong into financial crisis, and who have the character to withstand Washington's corruption and change things for the citizens of the country. We shouldn't be distracted by the partisan bickering in Washington and be partisan ourselves, that will hardly help the problem.